Frank Sabella

Frank Sabella: A Rock Star in Dogs
By Bo Bengtson

 

Frank Sabella, who died on February 14 at the age of 91, was as close to a rock star as we will ever have in the dog world. Deservedly, much space has been devoted to reminiscenses of how brilliant this man was, but I think it’s nearly impossible for anyone who did not grow up in dogs in the second half of the 1900s to understand how deeply Frank influenced all of us — not just handlers, Poodle people, or in the United States, but all dog people.

To that end I would like to recap his life history, with a few personal anecdotes. Much of the following comes from when I interviewed Frank in 2003. This was published in the 568-page February-March 2004 Annual issue of Dogs in Review, which ceased publication in 2017.

Frank grew up in New York and had no association with dogs in his early years. He bought his first Poodle, a Standard, from an ad in the New York Times, and showed her mainly because the dog’s breeder asked him to. The first dog show that Frank went to was the Poodle Club of America in 1953, where his bitch, shown by a professional handler he had been told to use, was third in a class of three. However, at the show Frank watched a girl who handled several dogs and seemed to have a natural affinity with them. That girl turned out to be Anne Rogers Clark, who told him that his bitch was not in condition to be shown yet. On her advice he brought the bitch home, worked on her and later took her to Annie, who finished her pretty quickly. Annie also helped Frank decide what male to breed her to: the ensuing litter included several champions, including the black Ch. Pavillon Baldassare, whom Frank brought with him when he moved to California a couple of years later.

Frank was a dancer by profession and not able to get seriously involved in dogs yet. He must have been quite good: he had a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, but did not stay for a career in classical dance. Instead, he and two partners formed a small dance troupe that performed in night clubs across America and Europe. They were very successful, got a contract at Lido in Paris for a year and a half, and then danced their way across the American continent until they got to Moulin Rouge on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where Frank decided to stay and retire as a dancer.

Tom and Ann Stevenson, the couple who were later behind Santa Barbara Kennel Club show in its heyday, were just getting married and moving out of Los Angeles, so Tom was selling his dog-grooming salon. Frank bought it, and forever after credited his success as a handler to Tom’s advice that he would go crazy if he ONLY groomed pets, so maybe he should try to be a professional handler also …

Frank had already learned a lot about clipping and showing Poodles from Annie Clark back East. The first mention I can find of Frank in Kennel Review, the magazine that Frank was to be closely associated with (it ceased publication in the 1990s) was a full-page advertisement in 1956, showing Frank going Best of Variety as a breeder-owner-handler with the “magnificent” Baldassare at Glendale Kennel Club under judge O. C. Harriman. Baldassare was advertised at stud with three Group Firsts, nine Group Seconds and 21 Best of Variety … but much more was to come.

Things moved fast. Only a year later there was an 11-page section in Kennel Review for the “Licensed A.K.C. Handler” Frank T. Sabella. His first important client was Col. Ernest Ferguson, who had been a successful exhibitor of Great Danes and Poodles in the 1930s and ’40s, and was ready to start showing again. He provided Frank with his first top special, a brown Miniature Poodle sent out by Annie Clark from the East Coast: Ch. Cappoquin Bon Jongleur. “Charlie Brown” won at least a dozen BIS in California, was top Poodle in the U.S. and No. 2 Non-Sporting dog in 1959. The following two years another of Frank’s charges, the white Ch. Estid Ballet Dancer, won 25 BIS, was the country’s top winning Non-Sporting Dog and among the Top Ten of all breeds in 1961.

At a Poodle specialty where Ernie Ferguson judged and Frank watched, Annie Clark won Best Puppy with a white Miniature that Frank really liked. Col. Ferguson subsequently bought him, and after starting to win back East with Annie, Ch. Tedwin’s Top Billing came to Frank in California. He had the kind of show career you dream of: in 1962 he won 31 Non-Sporting Groups and was BIS 21 times — an exceptionally high ratio. In 1963 he won even more: 37 Groups and 25 BIS. Top Billing was top dog of all breeds in 1962 and runner-up in 1963 (defeated that year only by the Boxer Ch. Treceder’s Painted Lady, handled by Joe Gregory, who is still an AKC judge).  

SHOWING ALL BREEDS

Although Frank was primarily associated with Poodles, he showed all breeds. He had a soft spot for Italian Greyhounds and was on a 1958 cover of Kennel Review with the imported Ch. Winterlea Piero, bred in England but with parents from Italy. The larger Greyhounds were Frank’s favorite breed, even more so than Poodles: he told me that if he could only have one dog, it would be a Greyhound. (Possibly the lack of coat and grooming had something to do with it.) Frank showed several top Greyhounds and later, after retiring from professional handling, he imported a Greyhound from Norway: Ch. Dogcastle’s Panda With Feather, a Best in Show-winner in the U.S., owner-handled by Frank. (Panda did not produce any puppies, however, and later went to live with Gloria Reese.) Frank was also very fond of Afghan Hounds and showed several top winners, including Ch. Gandhi of Lakoya, the  exotic Ch. Sahadi Shikari and Ch. High Ho’s Moon Majesty O’Bahara. 

But it was, of course, mostly with Poodles that Frank’s claim to greatness lay. In 1965 he was passed by the Kennel Club in London to judge Poodles at a championship show there, even though he was not yet an AKC judge. He put up an almost unknown dog from a little-known kennel: I think Frederick of Rencroft became an English Champion later, but he reached a peak of winning after Frank brought him over to the U.S. Frederick became an AKC champion by going Best in Show three times from the classes, and was top dog of all breeds in 1966 with 26 BIS. (He was also famously defeated in the breed at Westminster that year, but that’s a different story …) 

Frank and Frederick are credited with affecting a change in how Poodles were presented. The amount of coat that show Poodles had in the 1950s and early ’60s was enormous, ridiculously so by modern standards, but Frederick was eventually presented in shorter hair. “People really took notice and decided that’s how Poodles were going to look,” said Frank. Later, cutting off of hair went to extremes, probably supported by Frank’s saying, “I don’t think you can ever cut off too much!” — but he qualified that by saying that “The only problem I have is when people have these really tightly scissored mane coats and then leave this ridiculously long topknot and ears. It lacks balance!”

What were the reasons for Frank Sabella’s success? A talent for grooming and handling certainly helped, but it was combined with a strong work ethic, lots of energy, good assistants (Frank gave a lot of credit to Donna Young, Gary Wittmeier and Mike Shea), plus a real knack for getting his clients to let him take care of the careers of his show dogs without too much interference. Frank’s handling style was, according to both himself and many spectators, quite different from that of his idol, Anne Rogers Clark. According to Frank, she had this “innate ability to almost disappear when she’s showing a dog,” but Frank was much showier. He credited his background in dancing with having a sense of timing, a rapport with the dog, knowing how fast or slow a certain dog should be moved. In addition to this, he said, “I had learned from Annie the way she set the dogs up in the ring and then stood back and made it look like the dog stood on its own … I took that and made it my own in a different way — I think that helped me a lot.”

In 1969 Frank again handled the No. 1 dog of all breeds — the third time in nine years that he won this award. The winner was the black Standard Poodle Ch. De Russy Lollipop, outstanding in many ways but exemplifying what Frank saw as a problem with being a professional with a large string of winning dogs. The focus necessarily had to be on the top winner, and Frank felt that some worthy dogs he had didn’t get the recognition they deserved. The prime Poodle example was the black Miniature Ch. Tranchant Annabelle, one of Frank’s favorite show dogs ever. Annabelle had a wonderful career by most standards, won BIS at Santa Barbara Kennel Club twice, but “only” won eight BIS during her peak years. Several others could have won a lot more: the silver Miniature Ch. Starfire Dancing Master (nine BIS in 1965 but retired to give way for Frederick); the black Standards Ch. Acadia Xzaari, Ch. Bel Tor Black Helen and Ch. Bel Tor Come Hither, all BIS winners. (This did not apply to Ch. Haus Brau Executive of Acadia, however, a pivotal stud dog who introduced a “new” kind of showmanship to black Standards: his owner just didn’t want to part with her dog very often. Frank respected that and showed “Zec” when he could, resulting in a few BIS every year for several years in a row.)

The situation was even less favorable for other breeds. When Frank won e.g. the Hound Group with an Afghan Hound or with the Saluki Ch. Jen Araby Mumtaz Mahal (“Kitten,” another of Frank’s all-time favorites), he often also won the Non-Sporting Group with a Poodle — and usually had to show the Poodle for BIS. Kitten only won a single BIS; Frank claimed that she deserved far more, and that he had a difficult time winning with Shikari, who won most of his BIS with Jack Funk in the Midwest.

Having admired Frank’s handling from ringside during an earlier visit to California, it was a privilege to travel to shows with him and his assistants shortly before Frank retired as a professional handler. I had thoughts of becoming a professional handler, but seeing close up the work that was involved made me decide that I would definitely not become one … All I knew of handlers in those days was what I had seen on photos in magazines: silver trophies and colorful ribbons, well-groomed dogs and handlers wearing nice jackets and broad smiles for the camera. The reality of the grueling and unglamorous work that Frank and his assistants performed when the show was over, breaking down the set-up, loading the car and driving to a new show site — it was all new to me. (Exercising the dogs I could deal with.)

I think that at that time Frank was already showing a Poodle named Ch. Tally Ho Tiffany. She was one of several glamorous white Miniatures that Frank was responsible for. Tally Ho won at least 16 BIS, was top Non-Sporting Dog and one of the country’s Top Ten of all breeds in 1971.

At this point Frank himself was tired. He was a professional handler for less than 20 years, a shorter time than most, but he had experienced great success and worked hard during those years, always carrying a large string of usually coated dogs and keeping them in perfect condition. Only one big win had escaped him — Best in Show at Westminster — and when he won that, too, in February of 1973, there was no reason to continue. The winner, Ch. Acadia Command Performance, was one of the most spectacular Standard Poodles Frank had ever seen in his life, but he also felt that he had absolutely no control over him in the ring … “Bart” was a very headstrong dog: when he wanted to behave he was wonderful, but often he didn’t, and then there was nothing that even Frank could do. At Westminster he chose not to behave, but won anyway. It was not a popular win with the spectators: there were loud boos from ringside …

Later that year, Frank retired from professional handling, ending one of the most successful chapters of American dog show history. That he would be a brilliant judge was a foregone conclusion, but he did not start AKC judging right away. For one thing, AKC required professional handlers to take a break after retiring (six months? a year? I can’t remember); for another, Frank had many other interests that had been neglected during his years as a professional handler. 

 

STARTING TO JUDGE

And the rest of the world kept calling! Frank had already judged in England and went back many times; he judged the Poodle Club centenary show there with Annie Clark and Ann Stevenson. He also officiated at shows in both Australia and Sweden prior to becoming an AKC judge. Later, he judged worldwide and was considered one of the most brilliant ambassadors for American dogdom.

At that first visit to Australia Frank was expected to judge large entries of breeds he was not entirely comfortable with, so he took a crash course, courtesy of Beatrice Godsol, whose judging Frank had always admired. She was nearing the end of a distinguished judging career but will be forever remembered for having the intestinal fortitude of awarding a politically incorrect but widely admired Best in Show at Westminster in 1957 to a young and then little-known Afghan Hound, the legendary Ch. Shirkhan of Grandeur.

The crash course must have worked: they loved Frank in Australia! In Sweden the reception was equally enthusiastic. I lived there then and was instrumental in bringing Frank over; I can still remember hearing the Poodle girls in the hotel room next to mine grooming dogs when I went to bed the night before the show, and they were still at it when I got up the next morning … Ringside watching Frank’s judging was several spectators deep, and the Puppy Dog class winner that he really liked was completely re-trimmed, according to Frank’s instructions, before coming back to win Best of Breed. The next weekend Frank judged Afghans at a Sighthound specialty where his traveling companion, Mrs. Godsol, came out of retirement to judge BIS and put up the young Afghan Hound bitch that Frank had awarded Best of Breed.

(I still believe that Frank was the first American to judge in Sweden, but as my friend Geir Flyckt-Pedersen pointed out in Dog News, this was not Frank’s first visit to Sweden. He judged a Poodle specialty in Stockholm a few months earlier, which I do not remember, even when confronted with my own write-up of the show. It was nearly 50 years ago …)

It may come as a surprise to many that Frank was never AKC-approved to judge all breeds. This was partly his own choice. He first asked to be approved for just four breeds — Poodles, Italian Greyhounds, Pekingese and Afghan Hounds — and credited AKC’s Len Brumby with saying that he could certainly get a whole Group right away, but that it would be wiser to just start with a few breeds. By 1977 Frank was approved to judge the entire Toy Group, Standard Manchester Terriers in the Terrier Group, and Bichons Frisés and Chow Chows in the Non-Sporting Group. 

More than 40 years later, in the 2018 edition of AKC Judges Directory, published after Frank’s last assignment, he was still listed as approved for “only” four Groups — Hounds, Terriers, Toys and Non-Sporting — plus a dozen breeds in the Sporting Group, a half-dozen Working breeds and Welsh Corgis (Pembroke and Cardigan) in the Herding Group. One wonders why AKC did not automatically approve Frank to judge all breeds, or convince him to apply, but the fact is that although he enjoyed judging and officiated at some of the most prestigious shows worldwide, Frank did not WANT to judge all breeds. As he said in 2003, “The more I judge, the more I find that I want to judge just the breeds that I like.”

Frank awarded BIS at Westminster in 1990 to the Pekingese Ch. Wendessa Crown Prince, but although there were some famous winners among his finalists, he was a rather disappointed with his line-up. With typical candor, he said that “It seems like all my favorites that year got beaten in the breed or in the Group.” In 2003 he judged the AKC/Eukauba National Championship and found his BIS winner in the Norfolk Terrier, UK & Am. Ch. Cracknor Cause Celebre, top dog of all breeds that year.

To list all Frank’s assignments as a judge would require far too much space. A print-out of the AKC shows listed under “Past Assignments” for him in the Judges Directory would be 438 pages — and that Directory only takes you back to 1998, so there are no records of the first 20-plus years of Frank’s AKC judging. However, I have been able to figure out that he judged at Westminster 16 times and the AKC National Championship (started in 2001) seven times. 

But even more than these shows, Frank enjoyed speclalties. He judged at the Poodle Club of America 16 times, including Best of Breed four times. (He officiated for Standards seven times, always with more than 200 entries, 422 in 2000 and 414 in 2006.) Between 1998 and 2017 Frank judged 23 Parent Club specialties, including the Bichon Frise Club of America three times and the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America, the Dalmatian Club of America, the Silky Terrier Club of America, the Italian Greyhound Club of America and the Greyound Club of America twice each.

On July 16, 2017, Frank awarded Best in Show at an AKC show for the last of what must have been more than a hundred times. (There’s no way to tell, since AKC unfortunately deletes all records of decased judges’ assignments.) His last BIS ribbon went to the Borzoi, Int. Ch. & Am. GCh. Belisarius JP My Sassy Girl, imported from Japan and top Hound that year.

So ended one of the most brilliant careers ever in dogs. There will never be another like Frank, but I hope that the accompanying photographs, selecred from several hundred that I have of “the rock star of dogs” in action, will give some idea of the huge impact that Frank Sabella had.